1778 English cricket season

1778 English cricket season

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The 1778 English cricket season saw the last use of the Artillery Ground for senior matches. Details of eight matches are known. ^{[note 1]}

End of the Artillery Ground

The Artillery Ground staged its last two matches of any importance in 1878. The venue still exists, and is still used for cricket. On 24 and 25 August, it hosted London v Dartford, historically one of its main fixtures. Pre-match notices billed the event as "Hampshire v England" but that fixture was postponed, and London v Dartford was played instead. The postponement was recorded in the Daily Advertiser on Friday, 21 August. The Morning Chronicle on Tuesday, 25 August reported that London scored over 120 and Dartford 84. Dartford at one point were apparently 0/5. The remainder of the match was to be played out the same day (Tuesday), but no subsequent report was found. ^[5]

The ground's last big match was England v Chertsey on 15 September. The result is unknown. ^[6]

England v Hampshire

England and Hampshire met twice, winning one match apiece. The first was 29/30 June on Sevenoaks Vine. England scored 88 and 122; Hampshire replied with 71 and 140/7 to win by 3 wickets. ^[7] Hampshire had William Bedster as a given man. The top-scorer in the match was Hampshire's Richard Aubrey Veck with 53 not out in the second innings. ^[8]

The return match was 6/7 July on Itchin Stoke Down. England scored 143 and 130. Hampshire replied with 152 and 76, so England won by 45 runs. ^[9] Lumpy Stevens took seven wickets (bowled only) in the match for England. ^[8]

Chertsey v England

The England v Chertsey game on 15 September (see above) was the last-ever "great match" on the Artillery Ground. It was a return to one played 10/11 September on Laleham Burway, which Chertsey won by innings and 24 runs. ^[10] England scored 65 and 89; Chertsey scored 178 (William Yalden 49). Chertsey were well-served by Lamborn, playing as a given man, who took eight all-bowled wickets in the match, including a 5wI six in the second innings. ^[6]

Hampshire v Surrey

Hampshire played two end-of-season matches against Surrey. The first was played 24/25 September on Broadhalfpenny Down for a stake of £1,100. Surrey scored 115 (William Bedster 63*) & 166 (Joseph Miller 59); Hampshire replied with 135 (Noah Mann 31) & 149/6 (Tom Sueter 49) to win by 4 wickets. ^[11]

The return was played 6/8 October on Laleham Burway, and Surrey won by 138 runs. It was Thomas Brett's final match. ^{[12] [13]}

Other events

According to John Arlott in his Arlott on Cricket: "...in 1778 Hambledon announced home and out matches – on level terms and with no 'given' players – with Alresford for fifty guineas a match." He gives no further details. ^[14]

On 30 May, the Hambledon Club played a team called Hambledon Parish. The match was pre-announced in the Hampshire Chronicle on Monday, 18 May as "Hambledon Club v Hambledon Parish with Noah Mann". The venue was Itchin Stoke Down, which is near Alresford, and often called Stoke Down. The result is unknown. ^[15]

Notes

1. Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources. ^[1] However, the term only came into common use around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised. It was formally defined as a standard by a meeting at Lord's, in May 1894, of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective. ^[2] Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status. ^[3] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as important or, at least, historically significant. ^[4] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

1. "FC Matches in England in 1772" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
2. Wisden (1948). Preston, Hubert (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (85th ed.). London: Sporting Handbooks Ltd. p. 813. OCLC   851705816.
3. ACS 1982, pp. 4–5.
4. ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.
5. Buckley 1935, p. 85.
6. Buckley 1935, p. 86.
7. "Hampshire v England" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
8. Haygarth 1996, p. 37.
9. "Hampshire v England" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
10. "Chertsey v England" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
11. "Hampshire v Surrey" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
12. "Surrey v Hampshire" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
13. Haygarth 1996, p. 38.
14. Arlott 1984, pp. 72–73.
15. Buckley 1935, p. 84.

Bibliography

• ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC   85045528.
• ACS (1982). A Guide to FC Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC   10586869.
• Arlott, John (1984). Arlott on Cricket. London: Harper Collins. ISBN   978-00-02180-82-5.
• Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. OCLC   23450280.
• Haygarth, Arthur (1996) [1862]. Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Kennington: Frederick Lillywhite. ISBN   978-19-00592-23-9.

Further reading

• Altham, H. S.; Swanton, E. W. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) (5th ed.). London: George Allen & Unwin. OCLC   894274808.
• Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. London: Aurum Press. ISBN   978-18-54107-10-7 – via Internet Archive.
• Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN   978-04-13278-60-9.
• Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. London: HarperCollins. ISBN   978-00-07183-64-7 – via Internet Archive.
• Wilson, Martin (2005). An Index to Waghorn. London: Bodyline Books (limited edition, by subscription only).